Jurassic Galaxy Chronicles: Erathem Mind
by Myyddraal
Summary: "So close, so close, I will bring back the Old Ones, and I will stop at nothing to bring them back, and no one will stop me." Follow Renegade Saurian scientist Solack Admont as he endeavors to bring about the Old Ones. Connected to the Jurassic Galaxy universe by Nicogen.
1. Beginning of an Era

Greetings fellow readers, this is my next attempt at writing fanfiction. No more speaking, Story time.

Remember, All things that are recognizable are property of their owners.

Myyddraal

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Colony of Shanxi, City of New Taiyuan, Unregistered Location.

May 20th 2157, 8:40 A.M.

" **Hissssss! Why won't you stabilize!"** A screeching echo sounded deep from within the vast New Taiyuan Underground Network, known simple as the Network. The Network is a serious sewers, tunnels, and abandoned rooms that were created during the initial phases of the colonization of Shanxi, but were general left alone due to the sewers requiring little to no true maintenance. While acknowledged by the public above as a haven for the criminals, thugs, junkies, and other scum of society, neither they, the police, or even military officials have been able to fully recognize the two greatest features of the Network: Its privacy and security. The Network is a labyrinth in every sense of the word, countless layers of rooms and tunnels leading back on themselves and into other areas at random. Since a discreet cyber attack had destroyed all records and maps of the Network, only those who know their way around the Network are capable of getting through without running into hazardous areas and gang controlled territory, as well as the feral and violent Ultraraptors and Compy packs that live down there. Due to amount of known dangers lurking within as well as the unreliability of information on the area that comes from the locals, Police forces haven't even bothered

These aspects, however, were neither missed by nor did they intimidate the owner of the screech, 35 year old renegade Saurian Scientist Solack Admont, known as the Mad Doctor by Network's inhabitants. Solack, like all other Saurian, had DNA and physical attributes from certain dinosaurs and his came mostly from the Herrerasaurus. While had all the standard features a normal Saurian as well as average height, there were several oddities. His scales were a pale white with black stripes all across his body, and he had no plumage on his head, instead having two parallel bone crest emerging from the top of his head. The oddest feature he had, however was that flesh on the inside of his mouth, and oddly enough, the rest it inside his body was an electric blue. The reason for this bizarre coloration was revealed when he was a freshman in high school when he managed to biotically shove a person hard enough(In self-defense) to turn them into a smear on the wall.

At first scientists thought this was a bizarre mutation unique to him, but with the discovery of the biotic children, it was believed that he was a biotic as well. This theory was proven correct when it showed that both of his parents had worked in the southern continent on mars and were exposed to eezo numerous times, especially during the time his mother was pregnant with him.

The point where the hiss originated was a sealed room filled to the brim with countless machines, computers, databanks, a sealed off area for the more delicate work, decontamination, incubators, and a super reinforced door leading to hall way leading to several rooms that were set up as holding pens for the experiments. In the middle of the room, leaning against forward against a desk, was a sharply blue glowing figure, dressed in a dirty lab coat, Doctor Solack Admont.

"Ugh, the T-Rex and Ultraraptor DNA are binding properly with the Cuttlefish DNA, but the Frog and Cuttlefish DNA aren't binding properly, which results in the Frog DNA being purged upon the creation of the fetus" Solack hissed in irritation, struggling to keep himself composed and his biotics in check after seeing the strands of DNA fail to bond once again. The desk he was leaning contained the results of his most recent tests. Like so many before, something went wrong and the newly formed Creature was lacking the necessary genome to be useful to his goals. Solack sighed irately, before standing up and speaking clearly up "Computer, begin recording." A series of chirps are rattled off, letting him know that the computer is now recording.

"May 20th, 2157, Test 53-C shows that the DNA of T-Rex, Ultraraptors, and cuttlefish are compatible, but automatically purge the frog DNA upon the successful formation of a fetus. Estimations show that the Indominus Rex will have the original color changing abilities but will lack the heat masking capabilities, and should be expected to reach maturity at 3 years, over 5 times faster than its predecessors, but will be began to falter and decline at an abnormally long age of 100." Solack clacked his jaws together as he shuffled through the various reports, looking for anything of interest. "Current Genome Synchronization with the Original Indominus Rex is assumed to be at 80% at best, though it seems that the real percentage will roughly 70-75% once all the raw data has been fully processed."

"Ultimately, Test 53-C is a definite improvement over Tests 52-A-D and Tests 53 A-B 50% synchronization, though is still a failure in the long run of not achieving 100%. I will begin again in the next few hours when I have calmed and rested before move on to Test 53-D before I move on to Test group 54. The batch of 20 fetus' will be packed into containers to be sent off to my regular clients, Mr. H or the Network bosses in particular, while I retain one for further research and experiements. Meanwhile, I have continued to send in requests to Mr. L for a genome sample of the Template, though he has continued to refuse even in the face of the samples that I have offered him. This is Doctor Solack Admont, logging off" The computer chirped an opposite tone this time, signaling the end of the recording. Solack continued to stare at the screen, deep in thought, before shaking his head. "Oh well, he will have to break eventually, perhaps I show him my research and genome of the Ultrashells..."

After finishing with the recording, and closing the files, Solack activated his Omnitool to check on his information network he had established with the various gangs in the network that he has helped or supplied. No reports or changes in anything greeted him, assuring him that the Network was still stable and he had nothing to worry about.

While checking the reports, he walked to the incubation unit and opened it, revealing 20 alabaster colored eggs, the Test group 53-C. Donning gloves, he began picking out eggs and putting them mobile incubation units to be delivered to the their respective clients in exchange for equipment, resources, and privacy.

'Well, they may not be the monster the Indominus was, but they will still certainly be a force to be reckoned with, especially with that modification...' Solack mused to himself as he loaded the MIU's onto a trolley, before closing the incubation chamber with his solitary egg still inside. The modification he was speaking of was the removal of the insanity in the Indominus Rex and making it so that they would follow commands and hunt in packs like the Ultraraptors. The pack hunting capabilities and ability to obey commands of his I-Rexes had made it a hit in the Criminal Underworld as well as more secret Mercenary groups, as well as his more dangerous hybrids and mutations. He began wheeling the trolley towards a non-descript large industrial grade elevator that would lead to an abandoned room just below the surface so that his clients can easily pick them up and drop off his payment without the authorities being any the wiser. He hit the button to take him to that floor, and opened up his Omnitool and used a back door he had set up years ago in the Alliance's Genetic R&D department to learn if they had made any new development to pass the insufferably long wait. He also decided to send an alert to Mr. H and L to have them meet him for an exchange.

'Seriously, We have starships, genetic modification, and mass effect, yet we can't even speed up our elevators!' Solack grumbled internally as he finally stepped of the elevator 3 minutes later. He was quite glad that he had removed the elevator music box or he would have gone insane from it... or at least more insane than he already was. Moving the MIU's out, he wheeled the trolley ahead of him as he headed to the meeting place. That was when his Omnitool exploded with reports and alarms, screaming something about hostiles approaching the planet and aliens attacking the defensive fleet, surprising and confusing Solack. What happened next would solidify the warnings and put fear into Solack's heart.

 **BOOOOM!**

 **Rumble!**

The very earth shook underneath Solack, disorienting and knocking him down him and scattering the MIU's everywhere, as an unseen explosion rocks the city.

"What!?" Solack screeched as he stumbled back to his feet as his biotic shields snap into existence, feeling tremors as more explosions strike the city. Solack's mind begins to race, thinking of what is going and how he could capitalize on it while surviving when one thought consumed his mind and froze his heart.

 **THE LAB! THE DATA!** Without even checking to see if the MIU's were compromised, he raced back to the elevator. Just as he got to the elevator doors, the power cut off, locking the doors shut.

"NO!" Solack screeched as he desperately tried to open the doors with his hands. Seeing that he was getting no where, he abandoned all sense of subtly in his adrenaline fueled panic and biotically grabbed and ripped out the doors, the elevator cab, the wires and a chunk of the shaft in one go and jumped down, controling his falling by altering his mass. Eventually he hit the bottom of the shaft and race inside to his lab, and stopped cold in his tracks.

"no, no no no No NO NO **NO!"** His lab was destroyed, the explosion causing the roof of the room to collapse down on his equipment, totally crushing and destroying it without leaving any doubt in Solack's mind at the state of the equipment. Solack fell to his hands and knees in shock. 14 years of research, 14 years of lost time to bring back the Old Ones, 14 years of running from the government since their catastrophic argument over him researching and recreating the Original Indominus, 14 years worth of countless lives and hearts broken and friendships ruined, all gone because of trigger happy aliens.

The shock of the loss of his lab was replaced by anger, his body flaring with a level of biotic power that would easily surpass that of an Asari Matriarch. His lips pulled back and his eyes glowed deep blue as he roared in anger as a omnidirectional biotic push ripped from he and crushed everything in the lab and further destabilized the surrounding areas.

'Wait for me, freaks, I will see that you burn for this' Solack swore to himself, before freezing as the familiar roars of the Indominus Rexes sounded in their pens, followed by the deafening multilayered blast of the Ultrashell. Solack's eyes widened as some of his experiment's had survived and rushed towards the holding pens. He races over to the heavy doors and places his hands on the scanner to let him. The door begins to open letting out more clearly the noises from within. Solack runs to the opening only to jump back at the last second as a pack of I-Rexes rush past him, tearing of the reinforced doors with their weight, and down another tunnel. Later on that week, he would remember that tunnel leads up to the surface and is the reason why several I-Rexes plagued the city, Turians and Saurians alike. He peered out of the piece of rumble he had taken cover under, and saw the another Indominus limping out of the holding pens area, its side bleeding and tail completely gone down to the base.

The Indominus looked over at him with glassy eyes, and began limping and moaning his way. Solack, seeing the animal prepared to get up to help it, or at the very least preserve some of it DNA, when a massive massive pincer shot out and grabbed the Indominus.

 **SCREEEEEH!**

 **SCREEEEEH!**

 **SCREEEEEH!**

A series of deafening screeches rip through the room, practically deafening Solack and the injured I-Rex. The mouth that made such screeches soon made itself known as it and the other pincer latches onto the I-Rex. Solack watched as the massive, arrow like head of the Ultrashell open and tear into the poor beast with dozens of venom laced mandibles tear at the I-Rex's flesh and crush its bones. The I-Rex manages to screech once before the left pincer, which had grabbed the I-Rex's neck to catch it, twisted and crushed down, snapping it neck and silencing it. Solack watched with fear and a little awe at the beast, and even though he had seen it multiple times when it was still in the holding pen, he could not help but commit its form to memory.

It was like a fusion of a centipede, lobster and a scorpion. The beasts shell was a dull grey-brown, a flat-ish body with a large hump like structure with various spike-like protrusion across it. The creature had a blunt arrow head shaped head, which reveals numerous mandibles meant for slicing or crushing. It had over four dozen sets of legs to support its titanic 25 meter long, 120 ton weight main boy . Its tail continues on for 10 meters, a flattening out even more before with numerous underdeveloped legs hugging the underside, and finally ending in a large/spade like tail numerous stingers across the edge. Every single scuttle and shuffle caused the ground to tremble, and the antennae on its head laid back as it feasted.

Solack was interrupted of his analyze the beast when a second set of booming screeches sounded behind it as a second, smaller Ultrashell, its mate, emerged from the holding pens, closer to Solack's hiding place. It trumpeted at the first one, and made a small grab at the firsts ones meal, but was repelled when the first Ultra snapped back at it defensively and quite viciously. Seeing that it wouldn't find dinner here, it scuttled on two dozen armored legs over to the entrance of the elevator, pausing as its six antennae flailed about on its head while the numerous eye scanned the room, some how missing Solack in their search. It must have smelled or picked up something, because it shrieked and began climbing up the elevator shaft towards the surface. The smaller one was soon quickly followed by the first one, who had apparently finished its meal, leaving behind a maimed and unrecognizable pile of bones, blood, and bits of meat that didn't get eaten.

'Well' Solack thought with grim humor, 'The aliens are definitely going to have their hands full with those two monsters. The pack of I-Rexes could easily overrun and outmaneuver foot troops and armor, while the nothing short of frigate class weaponry will put a scratch on the Ultrashells' armor. And those things are only adolescent can get even bigger and tougher.' Barely sticking his head out to see if the cost, Solack emerged from the rumble and set about searching for anything recoverable from the roof caving in or the passing of the I-Rexes and Ultrashells.

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Solack sighed, looking down at what was left of all his research. He had four hard drives, with information on his fertile Ultraraptor Genome, the Ultrashell's Genome, as well as the data from Test Group 1-50, and his biotic research. He also has an egg that the larger, female Ultrashell must have laid out of his sight, though it was far to big for him to carry, since it was big as him. It wasn't much, but it was far better than having to start over at zero. He looked over his destroyed lab, and knew that he was going to have to move to a new location, potentially a new planet if the Alliance can drive of the aliens. If not, well, spending the last 14 years on the run and hiding from the government has certainly improved his survival skills.

'These aliens will pay for what they have done!' Solack rages in his mind, his body beginning to glow once again with biotics. He pauses and takes a minute to cool his temper before taking on final look around the lab. Eventually his eyes land on the overturned incubation. At first, he dismissed it as a fool's dream, but then he saw something that made him hope.

The lights and panels on it were still glowing.

It was still active.

Faster than he ever thought he could move, he surged towards the incubation unit and ripped of the cover. He looked down on the subject of his hope.

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

A predatory smile spread across his features and a dangerous glint enters his eyes.

"Well, well, maybe I won't be so far set back as I thought" Solack hissed, before rearing back, cackling hysterically as he stood in front of a still intact Test Group 53-C egg.

Screech!

The distant echo of the Ultrashells from above quickly shut him up. Solack grabbed the egg and placed in a nearby MIU that some how escaped the carnage this room had endured. Taking one last look at the place that had been his home, his work, and his lab, he activated his Omnitool and started a predetermined countdown for the explosives he had rigged up in the lab, and set off into the maze of tunnels that is the Network separate from where the I-Rex pack had gone.

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Well there you have it folks. Chapter one at my newest attempt. Review, and critique my work. Help me improve my writing, not just complain about how certain parts of the story didn't meet your expectation or conformed to your views.

This story will b highly linked to the events that take place in Jurassic galaxy, and Erathem Mind will release after it. So yeah, no definite release schedule.

Other than that, have good day/night.

Myyddraal.


	2. Duel in the Dark

What's up guys, its Myyddraal here  
Prepare yourself for another chapter of Jurassic Galaxy Chronicles: Erathem Mind  
As always, anything that is recognizable from other outlets and sources do not belong to me. This is for fun, not money.

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Colony of Shanxi, City of New Taiyuan, Network Tunnels.

May 20th 2157, 12:40 A.M.

For the average civilian, sewers are known for many things. Being the nests of drug addicts, gangs, black market dealers, and covered in waste and filth. What they wouldn't know is how the underground tunnels interact with sound. Unlike in open air places, where the sound can travel out in numerous ways, sound created in the tunnels bounce around them, making it nearly impossible to determine their original location and disorient the hearer. Solack, however, had lived numerous years of his life in underground locations such as this, wasn't nearly effected as most people would.

'The smell of this place, though, is something I never have and never will get use to.' Solack thought, grimacing to himself as he skirted around a growing pool of sewage from a broken pipeline in the wall. When the aliens had attacked the city, they did a major amount of damage to the network. Pipelines everywhere were burst or damaged, filing the tunnels with toxic, explosive fumes or drowning them in sewage. Other sections had just completely collapsed, preventing anyone from going down them. What was worse than that was it had stirred up all of the feral Ultraraptors and compys into a frenzy, though they were little match for Solack's biotics. Finishing off this terrible situation was that the lights in most of the Network was now offline.

'Now then, what tunnel am I in again...'Solack thought as he continued down the tunnels, carrying the M.I.U. he had taken from his now destroyed, and soon to be non-existent, lab. His body was safely sheathed in a powerful biotic shield, protecting him from harm while also giving him a light source. After what felt like hours, Solack was beginning to feel the creeping dread that he might be lost. Which could prove disastrous to him, because while his Biotics can last for a while, the battery on the M.I.U. will not.

As Solack silently contemplated his situation, he heard what was unmistakably the sound of footsteps and conversations, followed by gunfire and roars ahead. Solack paused at this, and quickly shut off his biotics, plunging him into darkness as he quietly crept towards the source of all the noise. As he neared the where the sounds originated from, he heard a rapid pounding of footsteps coming his way, and several distinctive calls. Solack would know those sound from anywhere, he had spent years around them. His biotics flared up, lighting up the tunnel he was in and temporarily blinding the charging pack of I-Rexes. What happened next would be a memory to chuckle at.

The I-Rexes where totally unprepared for the dramatic increase in light, blinding them and caused the larger three, which appear to have a very large amount Majungasaurus, Allosaurus, and Carnotaurus DNA to trip over themselves and crush two of the smaller I-Rexes, Dilophosaurus variant's by the look of the frills. The Carnotaurus and Allosaurus Variant smash into the wall, while the Majungasaurus falls right towards Solack. Seeing this, Solack sends out a massive biotic push at the Majungasaurus Variant, sending it flying as well as the rest of the I-Rex pack. Surprisingly, an Ultraraptor variant manages to make it through attack, still standing and hissing in defiance at Solack. Solack hisses a warning back, his body further flaring with biotic power as a powerful barrier wraps around him. The Ultraraptor Variant refuses to stand down, and lunges at Solack, intent on ripping out his throat.

Solack counters this by biotically grabbing it in mid-air, completely stopping the Ultraraptor Variant's momentum. Solack then proceeds to smash it repeatedly smash it against the both walls several times before chucking it at the head of the now standing Carnotaurus Variant. It bounces of the pale white titan's head, earning a roar of what Solack assumed was indignation, before coming to a rest down the tunnel. Even after all that abuse, it quickly picks itself back up and hisses at Solack. However, a deftly evaded warp that destroys the wall next to it quiets it down. Taking another look at Solack, it decides that the risk simply wasn't worth the reward it would get from attacking him, and takes off down the tunnel.

"One down, five to go..." Solack clacks, his biotics at the ready. By now the other I-Rexes are standing and have recovered, even the Dilophosaurus Variants didn't look too worse for wear even after being crushed by their large pack mates. The Carnotaurus Variants roar at him, shaking the very air and tunnel, and charge, mouths wide open, with the Majungasaurus close behind. Solack watches them charge dispassionately while he attaches the M.I.U. to a magnetic clamp on his back, before dropping into a crouch with a wild expression on his face. Biotic power gathers around him, coalescing into six spheres slowing orbiting him. Solack then springs upward, leaping onto the charging Carnotaurus Variant's back and slashes forward with his in a x-like manner, launching the six, now fully formed warps at the Majungasaurus Variant. The Variant is completely unable to dodge the attack, roaring in pain and fear as it's mercilessly pounded at away by the expanding balls of power.

"It seems you have forgotten just who is in charge here, allow me to remind," Solack screeches as he jumps off the confused Carnotaurus Variant, then darts to the left as he dodges the venomous spit attack from the two Dilophosaurus Variants. The two Variants were actually jumping and darting about, timing their shots so that they could keep a constant stream at him. 'Crafty little things, they've never shown this level of teamwork and planning before, well lets see how you like this!'

After dodging another volley of Venomous lugies, Solack aims himself at one of the Dilophosaurus and executes a powerful Biotic Charge. The Variant screeches in alarm, and tries to jump out of the way, but Solack manages to smash into its hips. The force of the attack was like getting hit by a large truck, and it sends the Variant careening and indenting itself into the wall. It was still alive, but it was severely dazed and was definitely out for the count.

After successfully charging the Dilophosaurus Variant, Solack turns to confront the other variant, but is met by the rapidly approaching jaws of the Allosaurus Variant. Unable to think, Solack reacts on pure instinct reflexively reduce his mass to near zero before jumping out of the way of the Variants jaws. The pale white beast barrels past Solack like a freight train, and struggles to correct its course, not having expected the saurian to be able to escape. Solack's arm snake out and he biotically grabs the beasts legs, and pulls. The Allosaurus Variant plummets to the ground with a crash, and awkwardly struggles to get up because it legs are laying straight behind it and its arms are completely incapable of pushing it up. Seeing that the Allosaurus Variant wasn't moving anytime soon, Solack breathed a sigh of relief before hearing the claws lightly scraping the ground behind him.

Whirling around, he launched a Biotic grab at the Dilophosaurus Variant that was trying to attack him from behind. He lifts the variant up and repeatedly smashes the Variant into the ground, when he hear a low growl. Solack looked across the tunnel and faintly sees the outline of the Carnotaurus Variant at the edge of his biotic light. Deciding that he has wasted enough time on this fight, Solack perform an overhanded throw at the Carnotaurus Variant, launching the Dilophosaurus Variant at it like a lance. However, the Carnotaurus was beginning to pick up on his movements and jerks it head out of the way of the thrown Dilophosaurus Variant.

'So this one seems to be the smartest one of the bunch,' Solack muses to himself as he and the Carnotaurus Variant square off on one another. Solack begins concentrating his biotic powers, the bright blue of his barrier turning slowly turning to navy blue to dark purple. Seeing this as its chance, the Carnotaurus variant charges, its jaws wide open for the kill. As it comes closer and closer to Solack, the color of Solack's continues to grow darker, until something that theoretically shouldn't be able to happen... well... **happens.** Solack's barrier turns pitch black, leaving a black outline of himself that is still somehow giving off light, and just as the Carnotaurus Variant is about to clamp its jaws down on Solack, the barrier explodes. Caught by the surprise by the sudden turn of events, the Carnotaurus Variant is sent flying down tunnel by the super-charged Nova blast. The other variants, having finally picked themselves and were general unfazed, were also sent flying.

'Let's see what they think of me now,' Musing to himself, he checks to see if the M.I.U. is still on his back. The device is still attached and reports no anomalies with in, which gives the Doctor some relief, though the battery saying he has eight hours left reminds him he is still on the clock. Solack begins walking down the tunnel to where the Variants originally came from, which he had been keeping track of he whole time he was fighting. As he passed by the Allosaurus, Majungasaurus, and Dilophosaurus Variants, they edge back and give low, sedated growls to him, recognizing his dominance. Their enhanced intelligence tells them that this small creature is dangerous and willing to fight back, and was most likely not even fighting seriously, like an adult dog play fighting with pups. Solack hisses at them in a aggressive manner, and they quickly scurry off down the way Solack came.

'Perhaps they will make it to the surface, there undoubtedly was quite a few tunnels I passed by' Solack thinks before stopping to survey the carnage that lay before him. There were cracks in the tunnel walls, roof, and floor, several large craters from where a Variant had been smashed into, and saurian sized hole in the wall from where a full powered warp shredded it. Solack couldn't help but be impressed and slightly shocked by the effectiveness of biotics in combat. Today most of the Alliance's top researchers and scientists believed it to be a simple scientific curiosity and the Military wasn't exactly interested in what they called "blue space magic". Still, they had decided to implant him with a working amp found in the Prothean Ruins on Mars to see if biotic were truly effective. Fearing what happen if he truly displayed his abilities, Solack deliberately performed poorly in the tests to trick the officials and get the scrutiny of his back. After all, the test and equipment they had back then wasn't very accurate or sensitive to catch him in his act.

Ever since he fled the Alliance, Solack had devoted a very large amount of time when he wasn't performing genetic research to biotics. His research and results, which could easily rock the Alliance and change warfare if they found out, contained performance models, implant prototypes based off the original Prothean one, theorized and confirmed upper limits of Biotic Potential based on species and Variant, and finally potential combat, medical, and industrial uses for biotics. This research now lies in one of the hard drives Solack carries with him.

"HA HA HA, I can't wait to see how the Alliance reacts to knowledge that Biotics are useful" Solack chortles out loud, as he make his down the tunnel to a maintenance room filled with shredded bodies, some recent, some not so much. One corpse in particular was a fat, orange saurian lying in a suspicious puddle ,where the upper portion looked like it had been crushed by a giant foot. What caught his attention though was that the corpse was wearing an Alliance Military uniform. Off to the side was another tunnel with a pair of battered metal doors. 'Hm, seems these escapees went for a little hunting first, but what would have caused them to flee...' Thinking back to the noises he heard when walking down the tunnels, he suddenly remembered one. The acoustics of the tunnels had muddled them, but Solack realizes that it originated from one of the Ultrashells.

"Looks like those things are still running around" Solack chirps thoughtfully, before cackling to himself ," Those aliens are going to be in for one hell a surprise." Solack makes his down the tunnel and passes through the ruined doors. Inside seems to be an office of sorts, and by the contents of the papers Solack picks up, a Red Sand Cartel to be more specific. That would mean the majority of the bodies outside were probably the cartel members, defending their turf. Well, it would seem they weren't very successful. As Solack looks around he notices a ladder hanging down one side of the room, which seems to be normally covered by a sliding wall.

'Well, quite interesting, seems like these guys had a few more brain cells than the average drug runners' Solack shakes his head at the novelty of it, then heads towards the ladder. Looking up, he can hear the sounds of music and faint gunfire filtering down from the top.

'Finally, a way out of this cursed sewer. I really must think about setting up somewhere nicer...' Thinking to himself as he climbs the ladder, Solack finally emerges from the Network after years of hiding. He wasn't very surprised that the ladder lead up to a night club, the two shady business' worked quite well together. As he wandered around the club, he took stock of what looked liked a firefight had taken place here. Bullets holes were everywhere, scorch marks told him that grenades had been thrown around, as well as... Solack stopped to sniff the air and chuckled. It would seems that the Alliance soldiers got creative in their fight with the Invaders.

Speaking of Invaders, he final comes face-to-face... or face-to-corpse with aliens that of caused him so much grief. Overall, he wasn't impressed by what they looked like. They looked like thin, metallic, bird-men, their appearance though was marred by the fact that they were riddled with bullets, slightly scorched and one even looked like its face had been burned off. While he, may have been disappointed by their appearance, the next emotion that came upon from in an instant was rage. These aliens, these **creatures** , have ruined so much of his, nearly cost him his life's work, and almost lead to his death. He still wonders how the escaped Ultrashells didn't decide to chow down on him. Anger and rage took over, and as his biotics flared, Solack snapped. Biotically grabbed the corpse, he flung them into the a wall. He threw the corpses with such force that they literally became blue grease stains on the side of the wall.

' _So these are the creatures that have ruined everything, I will make them pay for what they have done!'_ Solack rages in his mind, his face twisted unnaturally in fury, while his biotics were flaring to the point that, if anyone was looking at the moment, the light could have been seen from blocks away. As he continues to rage, he doesn't notice his Omni-tool chirping at him. When it begins to making far louder and more urgent beeps, does Solack finally take notice of the message he recieved.

"I swear, if this from one of those gangs, I will..." Solack began to rage, but quieted instantly when he saw who the sender was. It was Mr. H, the elusive and secretive saurian who is one of his primary benefactors in return for eggs, D.N.A., and data from his experiments relating to the I-Rex. To him, and the other saurian he has agreements with, Mr. L, he was The Alchemist. Solack remembered sending a notice them earlier before the invasion had started, but why would they be contacting him now. Still slightly confused, he opened it and read.

Alchemist

I have a proposal for you, something you would find very interesting. The meeting point is specified down below.

Also, I have included information on a potential subject-of-interest for your personal research.

I will see you there.

Mr. H.

As he walked out of the club and down the road, Solack scrolled down the message, revealing the meeting location was to be New Taiyuan's Prime Center Hospital, the largest hospital in the city. Frowning, Solack began to wonder why he would be meeting in a hospital, and this one in particular. Since it was the largest on the planet, it took in a majority of the injured and sick the colony had to offer, including an entire wing dedicated to Alliance military personnel. Going there would be tantamount to walking into a Alliance Base. With the fact that he still has capture order on his head, he is not very keen on doing such a thing.

'Why would he want me to go there...!' Solack wondered, as he stepped passed by a ruined building, the broken sign hanging forlornly from a pole identifying it as grocery store, when it realization hit him. The hospital would be over flowing with patients, and almost no-one would be paying attention to a single saurian! Adding in the fact that the military has more urgent problems to worry about, Solack would have almost nothing to worry about. Chuckling to himself, Solack made a note to compliment Mr. H. on his choice of location before scrolling down again. What was displayed was a full medical report of a saurian soldier, a Corporal Carver N. Varden. Born in Montgomery, Mars, single child to two parents, and enlisted when he was 21 years old. Solack skimmed over the young saurian background and history, and finally came to a medical report, which caught his full attention. He has an evolutionary hiccup that has caused him to be significantly smaller than other saurian, the report also goes onto to detail an in-proportionate amount of strength for someone his size. By this Solack, was already beginning to shake with glee at the report, recognizing numerous traits he has been looking for. When he finally hit the bottom of the report, it showed a Carver's genetic map, which is stated to be an anomaly.

'It can't be!' Solack hissed, and dug out the hard drive containing the data for his previous I-Rex tests. Darting inside a collapsed building, he uploaded the most recent test, as well Carver's and compared them to the extremely complex map of the Original I-Rex.

One of the major crimes the Alliance accuses of Solack was his attempt to steal the complete template of the I-Rex, however, he was only able to make it out of there with a general genetic map. The general genetic map he had taken held no specifications and details to what the Original I-Rex was made of, but could still be used to compare how close a you are to the original. When the results came back, it knocked the wind out of Solack, and forced him to sit down. He unclipped the egg he had with him, Test Group 53-C, and held it before him, before he began to clacking his jaws in amusement. He soon was cackling madly, schemes and plans already beginning to whirl about in his mind.

Test Group 53-C had a potential synchronization rate of 80%.

Carver's Genetic Map had a potential synchronization rate of 95%.

As Solack slowly began to calm himself, a vicious smile grew across the saurian's face. Once he had meet with Mr. H and L., he would be paying Carver a visit. Whether he wanted it or not.


	3. The Grey City

Disclaimer: I own nothing that is a recognizable medium or property. This is for fun. OC is mine though.

Colony of Shanxi, City of New Taiyuan, Lower Ward Streets  
May 20th 2157, 4:40 P.M.

* * *

In countless cities, across time and worlds, have always possessed a Slum District. It has been a persistent fact, there will always be a place where the destitute, the poor, the unwanted, and the rejected congregate, and that place is the Slum District. The names may be different, favelas, ghettos, shantytowns, but their purpose is the same. On Shanxi, that place is the Lower Ward. Even during this space age of development, the slum lives on through neglect, forgetfulness, and corruption. Even before the Invaders, the Lower Ward was in bad shape. Several corruption and embezzlement scandals had rocked New Taiyuan's administration 5 years ago, revealing the amount of funds the colony administration had on hand was horribly lower than what was previously stated. Faced with a potential financial crisis, the colony resorted to cutting spending and funding on numerous projects completely, which included the currently being built Lower Wards. Since then, the colony administration hadn't spent much attention to the Lower Wards, giving only minor funding to keep the roads in decent shape and a token police force. Seeing this as an opportunity, gangs swiftly took over the Lower Ward, due to lax police and Alliance presence, as well as a potential springboard for operations beyond the nearby Relay.

Now, the Ward looked... well... not that different than before, give or take a few large craters and collapsed buildings. Gangs were a notorious part of the Ward, and some often had powerful, and highly illegal, explosive weaponry or even Goliath Splicers. This last piece of information had only recently returned to Solack, and he was wishing he had remembered it sooner as he darted behind a pile of rubble, bullets kicking up the dust behind him. Across the street inside a dilapidated building were one such gang, armed with what looked like several Stalker SMG's, used by the regular infantry. Against his Biotic Barrier, those weapons would mean nothing to him, the gun they had that forced Solack into cover, was far more serious. Known as the X-12 Heavy Chain Gun, or more commonly as the Limb Buster, it designed to be the Goliath killing cousin of the X-11 Buzzsaw. While having a finite amount of ammo of and fired in a 12 round burst, it had more than enough punching power to break through a Goliath's armor with ease.

'Where on earth did these gangsters get that!' Solack thought, reflexively crouching lower as the another burst of fire from Limb Buster tore into his cover. At the rate the gun was firing, it wouldn't be long before it chewed through his cover. If he tried to make a run for one of the buildings, he would be mowed down, and if he stayed here hew would meet the same fate. Solack was hesitant to use his Biotics on them, his years of hiding compelling himself to keep his abilities under wraps, less he draw the Alliance's attention.

 **Vroooom!**

The roaring of an engine broke his thoughts, and as he looked from his cover, he needed to make a decision now. An old, dilapidated cruiser burst out from a hole in the building, which had the Limb Buster mounted on top of it. Seeing that he had no choice but to fight, he reinforced his Barrier to where it was glowing a dark purple, and engaged the gangsters. Reducing his mass, he leapt from his cover, and launched a pair of warps from his hands at the Technical. The vehicle swerved, the driver, somehow keeping his cool, attempting to dodge the strange lights , while the gunner on the Limb Buster open fired. One of the warps missed, but the other one smashed into its left front wheel, swiftly destroying the it. With the sudden loss of its wheel, the Technical swerved erratically, before finally flipping over. Reversing his mass, Solack plummeted to the ground, rolling to break his fall and was already gathering more biotic power for an attack. Concentrating, he collected the energy into his hands, all the while rounds from their Stalkers pinged of his Barrier. Light began seeping from his hands, and with a roar, Solack launched two blinding pulses of Biotic energy from his hands, one streaking towards the Technical and other towards the building with the remaining Gangsters.

Upon impacting their targets, the Biotic Lances exploded, utterly destroying the Technical, and devastating the building the gangsters were in. However, a groan sounded out, and as several Saurians threw themselves out, the building collapsed, killing anyone that might have been still inside. Solack hissed in irritation, seeing that there were survivors, and began charging another dual Lances. The gangsters take note of this and began aiming there weapons, before a voice roared out.

"Wait, Hold your fire!"

A large Saurian stepped out from a nearby building, holding a Mattock in his hands. He had dark brown scales, with a tan plumage, with a set of horns coming from his temples. He was dressed in loose, baggy clothing, and had various forms of jewelry on. Solack stared irritably at the Saurian, something about the this one felt familiar, but he couldn't pin down as to why. The newcomer approached Solack, motioning to his men to put down their weapons, before slinging his own weapon onto his back. A light chirping comes from the building, and an I-Rex Velociraptor darts out of the building and comes to a stop beside the newcomer. Seeing one of his creations appear and apparently in the possession of the newcomer, the wheels in Solack's head turned all the more harder, before he finally remembers. He released the Lances, allowing to them to dissipate, but kept his Barrier up.

"I see you made it out of that death trap alive, Mad Doctor" Varo Umbra, Leader of the Blood Kings, said smoothly. His gang was a sort of rising star, vying for control over the Network and Lower Ward with the Red Sand Cartel. The Blood Kings mostly controlled the Lower Ward, while the Red Sand Cartel dominated the Network tunnels. They constantly butted heads with each other, and both would come to him for Dinos, especially his defective I-Rexes, which he traded for security and privacy. "And it would seem you have some been keeping secrets."

Solack glared at the Gang Leader, his Biotic flaring in response, but says nothing back. Varo shifted back, obviously nervous but still keeps his arrogant demeanor.

"Well then... I have a proposition for you" Varo continued, a greedy glint beginning to appear in his eyes. Solack huffed quietly to himself, not at all interested, but was going to listen to Gang Boss anyway to see where it is going. "After seeing those... powers... of yours in action and the fact that you did kill three of my men, you owe us. So I will say this only once, join the Blood Kings..."

 **Vroooom!**

 **Vroooom!**

Two more Technicals roared out from two nearby alley ways, one equipped with a Limb Buster, and the other equipped with a Light Anti-Aircraft gun. Behind them, several more gangsters came running out and proceeded to surround him. Solack looked at them dispassionately, not at all concerned about them because what he would do next would insure his survival.

"... or we will kill you, and take everything you have. I'm sure there are people out there willing buy a **GAHHHHHH!"** Whatever Varo was going to say next, he never got the chance. Solack had enough of the fool's arrogance, and put his plan into action. Solack reached out and Biotically grabbed the Gang Boss, lifting him up for he others to see. He also grabbed the gunner's of the Technicals, deciding that if his plan does fail, best to have the most serious threat at the moment be eliminated. Holding the three futilely struggling Saurians, he looked around at the stunned gang members, and began crushing his hand shut.

At first their was resistance, but surely enough, the Varo and his thugs began crumpling inwards, arms and legs snapping. Skin began to tear, and blood poured freely from their wounds. The first to die was the Limb Buster gunner, when a fountain of blood erupted from his mouth and nose, which was quickly followed by his organs. The AA gunner died next, as with a sickening chain of snaps and crunches his skeleton shattered, bones tearing through his skin and pin cushioning his internal organs. Still clinging to life, Varo gurgled pathetically, blood pouring from his mouth, nose and ears. Weakly reaching out with a still intact arm, he gurgles,

"Please... sto..p.." Solack looked Varo in the eye, Varo's pained eyes stared back into Solack's cold, calculating, and disturbingly empty eyes.

Had the Saurian threatened to simply force him to join he might have lived. However with that finishing statement, he had made his gravest and final mistake. He threatened Solack's life work, which has cost him and many others their livelihoods, friendships and countless years of life, some even their very lives. He threatened it as if it were something as simply as a watch or an Omni tool. A cold, dark, fury , unlike any other, had taken hold of him, and he was in no mood to be merciful.

His plea ultimately fell on deaf ears, and with a sickening sound of bones snapping and squelching of blood, Varo and the Technical gunners crumpled inwards with a spray of blood and gore, until they were just vague, bloody spheres. Releasing his grip, the flesh balls dropped to the ground with a splat and thud, impossible to tell what it was originally. All the gang members could do was stare in mute horror, some doubling over and vomiting at the sight, other looking like they were going to break down. Brushing off some errant blood on his coat with his biotics, Solack eyed the gang members, noticing the Velociraptor Variant running away, before coming to a stop on Varo's second in command, Erom Boscus. A spindly saurian, light tan scales and completely devoid of any plumage or horns, his most unique feature was his utterly average face. He was practically unnoticeable in a crowd, and was easily forgotten, even by the people he has had mugged face-to-face. The Saurian cringed and back up in fear when he realized Solack was starring directly at him. Wanting to get on with his day, and already tired of the constant interruptions, Solack spoke up,

"I have a different offer, one which I doubt any of you will refuse. You will work for me. Agree, and you will follow my orders to the letter, and you will be rewarded. Refuse, and I will send you to join Varo and whatever dark pit he currently resides in now." As he said this, he approached Erom. The gang members back away from him, and Erom shuffled back until he tripped over a piece of rubble. Shaking in fear, he looked at the Scientist who, even though he was shorter, seemed to tower over him. "Do we have a Deal?" Solack softly trilled, his hand extended to the gang member.

The terrified Saurian look at the hand mutely, before slowly reaching out to shake it. Turning to look at the other gang members, and seeing similar signs of submission from them, Solack chortled to himself as he cancelled his barrier. Composing himself, he turned back to his new 'employee',"Alright, here is what I want you to do..."

* * *

After giving the gang members their orders, Solack sets off once more into the urban jungle of the Lower Ward. Unlike before, when he was simply using the street signs and outdated knowledge to traverse the streets, he acquired an up-to-date map for his Omni-tool from Erom, showing all of the local landmarks, and fastest routes to places of interest.

'I doubt those gang members would give me a false map, especially after my 'display' for fear of the same' Solack muses to himself, walking by a crater, still smoldering slightly and with the remnants of the buildings nearby scattered around it, slightly impairing his progress. 'So far, that thought is proving to accurate, and if what the map says is true, I have made more progress in a single hour, than the previous four wandering around with an obsolete map.' As Solack walked on, he periodically heard the sound of gunfire and explosions nearby. Whenever the sounds of combat came near, Solack took shelter in a nearby building, and would wait for the fighters to pass.

A very close call occurred when Solack was navigating his way through what looked like an abandoned barbershop, when he began to feel a rumble approaching. Grabbing a broken mirror, he held it up to a window to look outside, and quickly threw it to the ground and bolted for a nearby stair case. Coming down the street was a tank with a platoon of soldiers, all of which were Turian, from what the gang members had told him. They most likely got it from Alliance military personnel they encountered. Solack managed to talk and horrify his way out of a fight with the gang members, trying it here would end up with him earning the top spot on their to-kill-list and a tank round to the face.

Solack darted up a second flight of stairs, which lead to the roof. A tarp was pitched overhead, and small brick wall lined the edges of the rooftop. Making his way over to the edge, he peered down and watched as the Turian soldiers and their tank moved past his position. Solack notice that once of the aliens, had thicker, heavier looking armor, with blue highlights.

'Must be a commander or something' Solack thought, watching them pass before disappearing around a nearby bend. He waited for a few moments to see if they turned around, before deciding to move on. Biotic flaring slightly as he controlled his mass, Solack jumped from the roof and landed on the ground with a thud. He continued his walk to the Hospital, making it a point to go in the opposite direction the Turian Platoon went.

As he drew closer to the Upper Ward where Prime Center Hospital was, he encountered more and more Turian Platoons, with varying amounts of vehicular support accompanying them. Eventually, he began encountering fights between Alliance soldiers and the Turians, which was a somewhat good sign. Getting to the Hospital would was getting more dangerous by the second.

As Solack stared out from the window of semi-intact building, he felt something blow across his neck. Before he could turn around, a pair of arms wrapped around him, holding him still as a hand covered his mouth. Muffling in surprise, Solack tried to free himself as he was dragged away from the window, only slightly relaxing as his captor spoke in a recognizable tongue.

"Quiet, armor column moving this way" spoke the Saurian holding him. Solack stilled, ears attentive as a series of low rumbles began to grow. The light from the windows vanished as armored vehicle trundled by. Unrecognizable speech drifted through to his ear, a sort of clicking and chirping, more than likely the Turian's untranslated native tongue. It feels like a small eternity, but eventually the convoy moved past. A collective breath sighed out from the group they had been holding, and Solack was finally released from the from his captors arms. Solack turned and finally got a good look on the new occupants of the room, and groaned internally at the sight of the harnessed Ultraraptors with them.

' _Ugh, the Hunter Corp, I would have much rather be rescued by A.O.N.I. then these pretentious fools'_ Solack thought unhappily, memories from his interactions with this particular branch of the Alliance resurfacing.

The Hunter Corps was Vic Hoskins dream come true. During the change of Humanity into the Saurians of today, it was discovered that the various raptors species were beginning to regard the new Saurian race as raptors, even as pack mates as the transformation progresses. After numerous incidents that helped to reinforce this fact, the Alliance Military saw a golden opportunity. Initially used for bomb and drug detection before being replace by the Puras, the Ultraraptors were brought into the military. They were trained alongside their handlers for Urban and Jungle Warfare, and they were huge success. Working along side their handler, they would often find hidden insurgent or traps long before their Saurian parent could, and worked very well in ambushes and the close quarters encounters that were abundant in Urban and Jungle Warfare.

While Solack could definitely appreciate the well honed skills of the Handler's and their raptors, what he couldn't stand was their arrogance. Due to their record, they would always act arrogantly around, writing off the other Corps as inferior to them, especially the normal ground troops. Back when Solack was still part of the Alliance's Genetic research team, he was forced to deal with them every day, and while they may not have boasted it openly, he could definitely see in their eyes and their attitude. Then again, no sane person would irritate the guy with the needle when you are strapped onto his operating table...

The man in front of Solack, decked in full combat gear and hiding what he looks like, stretched his hand out to him.

"Lieutenant Corvor Ri of the 23rd Division, Hunter Corps., at your service. Do you mind telling me why you are still out here, and not with the other refugees? Especially a doctor like you?" The Lieutenant asked him. Seeing the other members of his squad turn their attention to Solack, he had to think fast. Finding an appropriate answer, Solack answered the Lieutenant.

"The place I worked at, a clinic of sorts was deeper in the Lower Ward, though it was destroyed when the Invaders made landfall. I managed to escape the carnage by entering the Network. I somehow managed to find my way out of that labyrinth." The armored soldiers stared at him without answering, making him nervous. When one of the soldiers spoke up, a woman by the tone of her voice, the nervousness spiked in him.

"You, a doctor by the looks of it, managed to make your way through the Network? I find that very hard to believe" the female soldier said, arms crossing her chest, looking at Solack with what was probably skepticism if he could see her face. The other soldiers were starting to gather round, even the one by the window acting as lookout stared at him. The Raptors felt their handlers change of mood, their chirps turning into growls and hisses. Seeing the ever increasing weight of scrutiny descending upon, Solack knew that what he said next would determine whether he walks out of here or fights his way out. As words and thoughts whirled through his brain faster than light, he answered,

"I myself am surprised that I made it through the Network in one piece," Solack began, looking the soldier in the eye, practically willing her to believe him. That wasn't a lie either, Solack was surprised he had made it this far. While the denizens of the tunnels didn't threaten him, the danger of a cave in or a gas explosion were very real. "I was away from my clinic and lab, making deliveries to the residents and performed check-ups, which was when the Invaders hit. I saw an explosion in the direction of the lab, and I ran back as fast as I could. It was long gone, destroyed by a stray round or such" which was true as well.

As it turns out, having an official Doctorates in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Surgery, and Genetics and the experience to back them up makes you invaluable in a place like this. The protection and secrecy the gangs offered were definite benefits for a few surgeries and I-Rex rejects.

Though apparently Varo didn't really get that part, and decided to get greedy.

Still, Solack remained on edge as the female soldier continued to stare, still unconvinced.

"Deliveries for the residents?" One of the Hunters piped up from the back of the group, male and with a deep tone. "The only people around here that can afford medical care are the gangs." This declaration caused the Hunters to tense, weapons beginning to come up as the Ultraraptors begin to growl lowly. Seeing that the Hunters were preparing to get violent, Solack decide to take a risk.

"Yes, I did indeed make deliveries for the gangs" he answered without hesitation, slightly startling the soldiers with the bluntness of his answer. They rallied quickly, and the female soldier, whom Solack was really started to become irritated by, made to counter. Having none of it, Solack steamrolled on, preventing her from speaking. "Here is thing, what other choice did I have?"

Confused by this, the Hunters remained silent, which Solack took as sign to continue. "The gangs make the Lower Wards their home" he started, confidence in himself rising as he continued to talk "if you want to do any sort of business here, no matter what it is, then you go through them. If have seen many people wander in here thinking they can make on their here, without having to go through gangs."

Pausing in his speech, Solack grimaced for effect, feeling not at all very sorry as he showed. The Hunters didn't seem to notice this, to busy trying to assess his words. "The gangs... reminded these people quite _thoroughly_ who is in charge. Seeing what happens to those who don't play by their rules, I went along with what they wanted, and was kept relatively safe due to the fact of me being a doctor." Solack turned to each of the Hunters while saying this, looking at where their faces should have been if not for the helmets.

"I did what I had to take care of the people here who needed my help, so curse me as much as you like," his gaze finally settled on the female soldier, a glare in his eyes. She held her ground, and her stance began to shift into more hostile one. Clearly, she was growing frustrated with what he was saying, but couldn't exactly make a legitimate counter when she had none. "I will not apologize for my actions when they allowed me to save others. I took the Hippocratic Oath, and I will care for any who find their way onto my table, whether they are a saint or a sinner" Solack heard a light growl come from the female, and he noticed that her stance had not changed from its hostile orientation, she was gripping the gun hard enough that he actually heard the metal groan.

"Easy there Doc, no need get angry, I apologize if Ensign Vella hit a nerve with you," Corvor stepped in, seeing that if this continued any further, a physical confrontation was all but guaranteed. A Hunter attacking an unarmed civilian would be a disaster in the making, for all of them, and the Hunter Corps. in general. The Lieutenant turned his head in Vella's direction, but there wasn't any words spoken openly. Vella stiffened, and after a few moments rigidly nodded before she made a clicking noise to her Ultraraptor and climbed up a nearby staircase.

'Helmet Comms, most likely. No way would she have know to do all of that without some manner of verbal communication' Solack thought to himself as the Ensign disappeared upstairs, most likely to act as over watch. He smiled internally, pleased that the irritating Hunter basically had her hand slapped and told to go sit in a corner right in front of him. This glow of petty victory disappeared when Vella called out,

"Lieutenant, you need to come and look at this now!" Hearing the urgency in her voice, the Lieutenant hurried upstairs with his Ultraraptor, followed closely behind by the others. Only the sentry by the window and the one guarding the door remained, leaving Solack alone with them. Seeing that nothing was bound to happen down here, and his natural curiosity getting the better of him Solack made his way up the stairs to see what the commotion was. Stepping out onto the roof, Solack was hit by several things, first was the unmistakable smell of fire and death, something he had become accustomed to in the previous hours.

What was next was the shrill, screeching roar of an Ultrashell in the distance. The direction it came from was roughly the same as the Upper Ward, with a hole host of places it could possibly.

'Perhaps the creature has found a refugee bunker, or maybe an armored battalion' Solack thought. However, while the Hunters were pointed in the same general, they were craning their necks to look at something. Looking up, Solack tried to discern what they were looking before freezing himself. In the night sky, were eight dots that burned red, slowly creeping down. At first Solack the were the lights of a drop ship, but he heard no whine or roar of the rotors and engines, but as the dots burned brighter and grew a little faster with each moment, realization struck him.

Those were missiles, and they were falling in the same direction of the Ultrashell. Solack stood there and watched, as the Hunters cursed around him, and silently thought without a single shred of remorse for those about to die,

'How I would love to see the remains. There would be so much data to collect, so many samples to harvest...'

Solack knew that the Turians currently held orbital supremacy, and only they could have fired those ship grade missiles. Solack watched as the Missiles struck home, detonating with a massive explosion, shielding his eyes from the light, before turning on his heels and making his way back down the stairs. As he descended, all that was left on the horizon was the beginnings of a mushroom cloud, a great shriek of anguish from the male Ultrashell riding on winds of the blast.

* * *

Chapter 3 Done

Announcement: Me and Nicogen need your help! We have our hands full working on our stories, yet the ideas we are making are jumping ahead! One such Idea is side story me and Nicogen have thought up, a "Shawshank Redemption" style in our Universe. Any takers who can help us improve the writing in our Universe and expand its scope will be greatly appreciated. If you think you have what it takes, PM either me or Nicogen for details.

Leave a review! Make sure it actually means something, not just a simple hate or flame!

Myyddraal, Out!


	4. Rumble in the Concrete Jungle

Disclaimer: I own nothing that is recognizable in other media. That either belongs to their creator, or was inspired by the recognizable media. The OC is mine though.

Here we go! Chapter 4

Colony of Shanxi, City of New Taiyuan, Lower Ward Streets

May 21th 2157, 2:40 A.M.

* * *

Vic Hoskins dreamt of utilizing the Ultraraptor in Warfare, though his attempt to control them fail miserably and end with him having his face chewed off. On an instinctive level, the Ultraraptors did not see humans as pack mates, they didn't even see them as members of the same species. It was this disconnect that prevented the Ultraraptors from being used effectively and what caused them to turn on their handlers so quickly when the I-Rex asserted its Dominance over them, because they recognized that the I-Rex was at least part Ultraraptor.

This all changed when Humanity began transforming into the Saurian race.

In the now two historic cases, Saurians learned that the fundamentally and instinctually difference that separated the Ultraraptors form Humanity was not present with Saurians. The Ultraraptors viewed the Saurians as members of their species, and the Military, seeing a golden opportunity, pounced on this new development. From much trial and error, the Hunter Corps. was born, the units that Vic Hoskins dreamt of creating. This special forces group working hand-in-hand with their Ultraraptor partners, the Ultraraptors having been imprinted on them from birth and raised and trained alongside their handlers for at least a decade. In terms of bonds between Handler and Ultraraptor they are inseparable, and woe to thee who dares harm one of the pair, for they will be facing the wrath of the other. In terms of skill, their equivalents would be the similar to the U.S. Seal Team 6, the Russian Spetnaz Commando Frogmen, the British S.A.S., or the Israeli Shayetet 13. The only branch of the Alliance military that can confidently claim superiority over the Hunters are the Apex, soldiers hand picked by the heads of their respective Corps. to receive elite and classified training.

The Hunter Corps.' motto is this Multa ut Unum, Ad Utilitatem Omnium. The Many as One, For the Benefit of All, which their fighting style attests to. As Solack moved with them through the streets, he couldn't help but marvel at their cohesion and teamwork. They moved efficiently and quietly, always observing any possible avenue from which a threat could emerge. Their partners, the Ultraraptors, darted amongst the buildings, playing a lethal game of hide-and-seek. What struck Solack as odd was that the Lieutenant's Ultraraptor remained by his side.

Occasionally, the call from one of the raptors would echo out through the buildings, which the Lieutenant's would respond with its own call. Solack puzzled over this, but as they passed through alley after alley, he began piecing together a hypothesis. At one point a raptor trilled out a single shriek from somewhere on his right, while another raptor trilled out two shrieks on his left. Without pausing, the lieutenant directed his team to the left.

' _Could it be that they're using the calls for advance scouting? Intriguing, I will have to look more into the Hunter_ Corps...!" Solack was so deep in thought that he didn't realize that the Hunters had suddenly halted, and continued walking. He was so lost in thought that he didn't expect the hand that shot out and grabbed him by the collar of his neck. Solack was harshly ripped off his feet, and pulled into one of the building that lined the alley that he and the team were using. The building, he absentmindedly noted was on the right hand side of the alley as the hand dragged him inside.

Solack panicked, and just as he was about to snap his biotic barrier up, he found he was pressed into his supposed "Attacker", one of the Hunters. The Hunter made a silent gesture, _Be Silent,_ which prevented the irritable retort that Solack had ready. Behind the Hunter, the Lieutenant's Ultraraptor stood angled perpendicular to the door, crouched and tensed up, ready to lunge. As Solack began to wonder what reason there was for all of this, he heard it.

He first heard the click and thud of armored boots striking the ground. He then heard several rapid clicks, spoken in a fast and low tone. Seized by idiotic curiosity, Solack slowly inched along the wall towards the door, hearing the Hunter tense up behind him and feeling their grip never relenting on his collar. He peered outside the door to get a look at the threat, and found himself face-to-face with a heavily armed Turian. The soldier stared at him for a moment, his mandibles spreading apart and eyes open with surprise, before immediately hardening his eyes and brought his gun up, shouting to what could only be his fellow soldiers.

Once again, the hand holding his collar dragged him from the door, as bullet tore through where his head once was. The Hunter proceeded to throw him further back into the room, while their other hand darted for the knife, drawing it in one fluid motion, just as the Turian charged into the room. The Hunter lunged forward, letting the few shots the Turian got off ricochet off their shield before shoulder checking the Turian into the wall behind the alien. Somewhat stunned, the Turian was unable to effectively defend themselves as the Hunter buried their knife in what appeared to be the base of their neck, before pushing him off to the side. The Lieutenant's Ultraraptor jumped on the alien, teeth and claws flashing as the animal tore into the alien finishing it off.

As the Ultraraptor tore apart the alien, the Hunter spun around, twirling the knife so the blade was being held by their fingers, and threw it at the door way.

Just as another Turian burst through the doorway to try and save their Ally.

The knife spun towards the alien, flashing in a morbid dance, before burying itself in the Turian's eye. As the alien fell to the ground, he knocked down two other soldiers coming up from behind him. Having finished off the stricken alien from before, the Lieutenant's Ultraraptor screeched and jumped over the pile of aliens before continuing turning around and began mauling one of the fallen aliens, the Hunter following close behind. He bent down and retrieved his blade from Turian who he had nailed and swiftly drove it into the other Turians eye, finishing it off.

Solack simply sat there in surprise, numbly noting the sound of the other Ultraraptors and the hollow puffs of suppressed weapons firing, finishing off the other members of the alien squad they had ambushed. In total, Solack calculated that it only took the Hunter and the Lieutenant's Ultraraptor around five seconds to finish off four hostiles. A feat truly befitting a special forces group. He had known that the Hunter's were well trained and loved to brag, but to see just one pair at work, those boasts they have make don't seem to hollow anymore. The Hunter then walked through the door, looking him up and down before shaking their head. The Hunter walked past him and grabbed a nearby rag to wipe the blood from the their knife before sheathing it and turning back to him. Crossing their arms in front of the their chest, a wholly familiar and newly hated voice addressed him,

"Well Doctor, if you are just going to sit there and gawk, then I will be more then willing to leave you behind" came the venomous voice of Ensign Vella. Solack grit his teeth, hearing the grating voice of the hostile Saurian that nearly blown his cover. She was the one who saved him, and ironically, his identity.

' _She was the one who protected me?! I would've rather face the those metal chickens myself then have to suffer the humiliation of receiving this insufferable woman's help'_ Solack flared in his mind, anger and humiliation silently burning away as he quickly stood back up, brushing off the dirt from his ruined coat as attempted to recover his pride.

"No worries Ensign, I have no intention of leaving the best chance I have to leaving this warzone alive," He responded, a little bit of his anger seeping into his reply and tinging it with an arrogant tone. The Ensign merely scoffed at his displayed, shaking her head, before turning and heading for the door, beckoning him to the door.

"Whatever Doctor, the sooner we get rid of you, the better. You Civilian Doctors are nothing but pretentious fools" The Hunter replied without even looking at him, sending Solack's anger deeper from the first half. Were it not for the situation he was in, he would have truly lost his temper at the second half and risk exposing himself. Though, a dark thought crept into his mind, thinking of how wonderful it would be to kill this woman, and with his Biotics and understanding of the body, he had quite a number of ways he could kill her. Sure, he would have to kill the rest of the Hunter Team, and some of them did seem like nice people, but their deaths wouldn't out weigh removing Ensign Vella from this Existence.

Fate, however, denied Solack the outlet of destroying Vella as they stepped outside to see the other Hunters and their Ultraraptors waiting for them. Overall, the Hunters and their Ultraraptors appeared fine, save for the blue blood of the aliens on them. A large presence smoothly glided past Solack, the Lieutenant's Ultraraptor, and retook its place beside him.

"If you two are done dawdling around, we have a mission to complete" Corvor spoke, none of the slight levity in his voice from earlier. Solack couldn't help but notice that the Lieutenant was staring at him when the he said this. He could practically feel the frown even if he couldn't see it.

' _Why is he directing his frustration at me?'_ he puzzled, unsure of the reason for the abrupt hostility being directed at him. What could he have done to... ' _oh.'_ Were Solack less prideful, he would have blushed at his mistake. The Lieutenant probably wanted to avoid detection by the Turian Squad and simply let them pass, but Solack and his damnable curiosity screwed it up. Solack did however glower at Vella, knowing full well that the woman informed her superior of what he had done. He decide to no look back or acknowledge what her rating him out, less he tip the Hunter off. His anger, though, burned molten in his heart.

As the Hunters formed up once more, with Solack, Corvor, and his Ultraraptor at the center of the formation and the other Hunter's Ultraraptors darting out of side, Solack thoughts storm in his mind. Keeping track of the Ensign, he briefly allowed himself a glare when no-one was looking. Then the Ultraraptors began reporting in, the cries audible over the din of the city and distant warfare. With a simple gesture from Corvor, the Hunters and Solack took off once more into the alleyways. As they proceeded towards their ultimate destination, which ironically was one and the same for both parties, a single black thought took hold in Solack's mind.

' _Pray to whatever being you believe in, Ensign Vella, I will see to it that this planet becomes your grave'_

* * *

Aside from the brief run in with the earlier Turian patrol, the journey through the Lower Wards wasn't nearly as eventful. Several times the Hunters and Solack were forced to hide in nearby buildings or in the rubble of destroyed ones when an alien patrol passed. Every time, the Hunter who Solack was forced to hide with?

Ensign Vella.

Every. Single. Time.

Now, if she had simply kept quiet or left him be, perhaps his anger could finally simmer down, but it was not to be. The woman took every opportunity to needle away at him, nothing truly overt to gain Corvor's attention nor so subtle that it was just Solack's paranoia flaring up again. When Solack lagged behind momentarily when getting to cover, a scoff. When ever she addressed him, the same condescending attitude as earlier. Even the other Hunters were beginning to show signs of derision towards him. He hade hoped that the Hunter would retain a level of professionalism, but it seem that the Ensign was deriving some kind of entertainment from making a fool out off him. Rather than his anger simmering down to where he wasn't thinking about killing a member of the Hunter Corps., it was taking a legendary amount restraint and self-control to keep himself from going nuclear and killing the entire squad.

 _'I am going to kill this woman, I'll kill her. I don't care if the Military tacks on Assault, Torture, and Murder of Fellow Soldiers onto my rap sheet. Unless something happens to get my attention off these Hunters soon, or I am going to start killing'_ Solack seethed, his Biotics barely for the Hunters and unluckily for Solack's temper, they were graced with such a distraction. Or rather a disaster in the making as over Sixty Tons of alien metal in the shape of what Solack believed was a tank burst through the buildings ahead of them. As the Dust settled, the turret on it rotated towards them.

It was all sleek, angular, machine, grey with orange accents along its side., with sloping forward plane the lead up to the Main turret, and overhanging pieces of armor covering its propulsion. The main barrel itself was a thick barrel with, with ring like attachment placed on regular intervals. Atop of it was what appeared to be a large HMG, a heavy variant of a chain gun, and a unfamiliar look sensory suite. As the machine rumbled out from the ruined building, he noticed that the machine used a series of overlapping blades to move forward The blades dug cleanly enough into the ground, and propelled the tank out from the devastated building with a surprising speed. Overall, it gave the impression of predatory bird had merged with a caterpillar, and it had found new just found new prey.

"TANK!" With one the Hunters Bellowing the obvious, the Hunters scattered into the building Solack following suit as the heavy gun on the turret began firing. As Solack ran for cover, the tanks rounds chewed up the ground behind him, showering him with dust and concrete fragments. With a final leap, he jumped into a nearby building, just as a massive thump sounded. A moment later, the building Solack passed by simply ceased to exist save for the rubble raining down and the ruined foundation.

Solack uneasily picked himself up off the ground as his ears rang. A pair of hands grabbed him by the arms and hoisted him up the rest of the way

"Keep moving! We stop for a second and that tank will destroy us" The Hunter, recognizable by the Ultraraptor claw mark on his helmet as Corporal Dunel, yelled to him before darting further into the building. Seeing no other choice Solack raced after the hunter, who thankfully, wasn't Vella. The mighty thump sounded again, and just as the Hunter and Solack flew from the building they were in into the adjoining alley, the building exploded, throwing chunks of rubble everywhere.

Solack and the Hunter raced into the next building even as more HMG fire traced after them. As he ran, Solack saw out of the corner of his eye blurs of dark armor moving amongst the building. A hand grabbed him, pulling him away from the alley window and deeper into their temporary refuge, as the ominous rumble of the tank grew and the massive killing machine began appearing in the window.

The two Saurians hunker behind a wall, hoping that the Tank's crew believe that they had moved on to the next building. As they sat there, the Hunter leaned over to him and hurriedly whispered,

"Alright, LT has a plan. We can't outrun that tank, and we certainly are not going to be able to hide forever. So, LT has decided to play a game of cat-and-mouse. Were going to be the mouse" Solack stared at the Hunter, wondering about this plan, tensing when the thump from the tank announced the destruction of another structure. Then he paled as realization dawned on him.

"Where going to be BAIT!?" Solack harshly whispered back, one part of him rejecting the plan as suicidal and the other part rejecting on grounds of pride. Flashes of him running through the streets like a chicken with his head cut off while a tank chased after him flashed through his mind. He may have Biotic powers, and can easily handle several Incomplete I-Rexes as well as Gangsters, but a tank is simply too much. Its armor makes his attacks mere annoyances, its too heavy for him or a singularity to pick up, and any kind of shot from a heavy cannon, alien or not, will punch through his barrier without even really trying. "Forget that! I'm a doctor, not a soldier. I'm only suppose to be sowing up some punk's stab wounds from a gang fight, not play the world's deadliest game of Peak-a-Boo!"

"No, I'm going to be the bait, and you can just sit here" the Dunel responds evenly, surprising Solack, as he looked from behind the wall out to the street. As Solack started to feel relieved, Dunel whirled on him, rasping, "Of course I mean the both of us!"

The Hunter paused, and immediately lunged at Solack, the familiar rumble from the Tank returning, screaming, "Get Down!"

Sqauking in protest, Solack was tackled by the Hunter as the Tanks HMG ripped through the wall they were hiding behind. Had they still been standing, they would have been torn in half.

Dunel pulled and pushed Solack out into the room and towards a door on the other side, urging him to move, though Solack didn't need any kind of encouragement. Together, they burst from their impromptu cover, as the HMG roared to life once more. For the next several minutes, which felt like an eternity to Solack, he and the Hunter played a deadly game of Cat-and-Mouse with the Tank. They moved like bats out of hell, streaking through buildings as the alien killing machine demolished everything in its path. Many times, Solack was forced to snap up his Biotic barrier to protect himself from the shrapnel created by the tank. They ran through the buildings, sometimes splitting up to go to different floors to force the Tank to choose who to shoot at. On more then one occasion when their frantic paths crossed, the Hunter informed Solack to hide, for reason unknown to him.

And so, Solack and the Hunter ran for their lives. Back and forth, Solack and the Hunter would run, escaping the Death's embrace by slimmest margin. Had he known it, Solack would have been somewhat pleased with the fact that their flight was taking them ever closer to Prime Center Hospital.

Currently, Solack found himself running through a long hallway on the ground floor, while the tank was busy shooting up the second floor of the building across the street, a block back. Numerous picture covered the wall on the right, while large, wire reinforced windows covered the side. As he ran, a Hunter popped into view from a hallway up head. Solack recognized him as Specialist Ferinth, newbie of the squad due to red stripe painted just above his visor . Seeing Solack, he vigorously gestured to come to him before disappearing back around the bend. Not wasting time, Solack charged forward, grabbing the edge to swing himself around and not lose momentum. Sadly, it would seem Solack would need practice in this regard as he briefly smacked into wall, giving himself a second to note the stairs and the rapid movements of the Hunter disappearing up the stairs.

Not wanting to be left behind, Solack ignored the dull ache in his arm as he ran up the stairs, taking three steps at a time in order to catch up with the Hunter. Every time he reached the top of the current set of steps and turned to take the other, he would see the Hunter disappear up the next flight. After two flights of stairs, Solack finally managed to catch up with the Hunter on the Fourth Floor, who was currently sitting underneath a window leading to the outside street, peering over the rim of the window. Briefly twitching their head and noticing the 'doctor', the Hunter motioned for him to join them before turning back to the street.

' _Alright, so what now?'_ Solack pondered, as he sat by Ferinth. Another thump courtesy of the alien tank came from outside, causing Solack to instinctively tense. As they did not suddenly burst into a ball of flames, or the building didn't crumble around them, Solack let himself relax and review his memories.

' _Think Solack, there has to be something'_ the Saurian Geneticist and Renegade thought, trying to puzzle together the Lieutenant's plan. Obviously, Solack and Dunel had been playing a stalling game. If the Lieutenant had something up his sleeve that could take out the tank quickly and immediately, he would have never risked both the life of one his men and the life a 'civilian'. Additionally, he must have needed more time then his and Dunel's mad dash had given him, so he had them back track and increase the amount of time he had. Finally, he must have finished preparations if he had Slack removed from the equation, otherwise Solack would still be dancing with the tank four floors down. So what could possibly be Corvor's game?

 _'An ambush perhaps, no,_ _I didn't see an heavy weapons on them, and who knows what kind of punishment that beast down there can take...'_ Solack mindlessly pondered, oblivious to the fact that the Specialist was talking. Said Specialist looked around to see the that Solack wasn't paying attention

"Hey man, you paying attention!?" Ferinth's voice and slap to the back of the head snapped Solack out of his thoughts. Sparing a quick glare at the Hunter, Solack turned his attention to him, ready to receive whatever instructions he needed. "Finally have your head out of the clouds, eh Doc? Good, cause I some important information for you from the Lieutenant."

Solack sat there back pressed against the wall, somewhat annoyed by the soldier obviously building up suspense for a dramatic reveal.

"Sit back, cover you ears, and don't look at the tank as it blows up." Solack pondered these words, before his mind finally pieced together the mystery. As the Tank rumbled down past them, Solack realized what they were going to use against the aliens. The Hunter looked from the street and brought his visor up to catch Solack's eyes, and gestured with his hand while his head beat to an invisible beat.

5

4

3

2

Solack's hands flew to head, covering the ear holes as best as he could, and made sure to not look anywhere in the direction of the tank.

1

A piercing wail howled out from the street, before a massive flash of light and deafening boom shook the building.

* * *

Buried in a small pile of paper and rubble, lay a M20 Ventilator Anti-Tank mine lay in wait. As the alien tank approached it, the mine's onboard computer it into a "coked gun state", ready to fire at a moment's notice. As the Tank finally passed over head, the weight reliant trigger tripped, detonating the device. The three shaped charge in the mine went off, forming a spiraling lance of plasma that speared upwards towards the relatively weak under armor of the alien tank, though the Hunters didn't know this. This lance of superheated gas, metal, and sheer kinetic force overwhelmed the tanks kinetic barrier and pierced the thin armor. The sudden and extreme change in temperature change inside the cabin from the mine instantly killed the crew, before setting off the machine's ammunition and fuel stores.

Even four stories up, the two Saurians jumped slightly as the tank exploded, its turret jumping off the main cab before thudding off to the side.

* * *

Solack remained curled up, hands riveted over his ear canals, and eyes clamped shut. The building around him shook, and the windows above him shattered, raining down glass upon Solack. Solack didn't even need to worry about shards since the glass was thoroughly shattered by the shockwave of the tank's explosion. Solack shook his head, ears still ringing as echoes of the blast dissipated. He struggled up, his sense of balance shoot, grabbing at the ledge by the windows to haul himself up. A sharp sting of pain shoot through his hand as he touched broken shard of glass, though he wasn't cut, thankfully.

Solack pulled himself up, gazing out over the lip of the now destroyed window down unto the street. Sitting in the middle of the street, fire and smoke billowing out from where the turret was once attached, was the remains of the thoroughly obliterated Turian tank. Not able to keep it off his face, Solack grinned triumphantly at his tormentor for the last few hours, or perhaps it has only been minutes.

' _With the amount of chaos and destruction the tank caused, and all the adrenaline pumping in my head to keep me alive, it very may well be.'_ The grin disappeared quickly while a new thought settled into his mind, sending new cold chills down his spine ' _I could have died here. All my efforts to avoid the S.A. just to die in some hole on a backwater planet at the hands of an alien tank crew with itchy trigger fingers.'_

Solack perked up as he heard crunching of glass being trodden upon, and turned around. The Hunter was standing behind him, at the entrance of the stairs back down to the ground floor, beckoning him to follow. Eager to leave this place, Solack wobbly stood up, legs still shaking after the explosion. Noticing Solack's instability, the Hunter moved to support the doctor. Solack braced himself against, hand raised, asking the Hunter to wait.

Solack breathed in and out, acrid smoke tinging the air, before letting it rush out in a great sigh. He looked towards Ferinth, and nodded his head reassuringly, before pushing off the wall and began walking on far steadier legs. Seeing that the doctor no longer needed help, Ferinth descended flights of stairs, Solack directly behind him. What the specialist didn't know was that underneath the large lab coat and jumpsuit Solack wore, Biotic power covered his lower thigh, knee, and upper shin.

They walked down the stairs in silence, whether out of exhaustion or the idea that enemies could still be nearby. Eventually, they reached the ground, the hallway Solack had been fleeing through only moments before, ruined. Shattered glass lay everywhere, the wires that held them bent out of shape, and the pictures now lay on the ground. Ferinth and Solack continued their quiet march through the hallway, past the burning tank. Solack stared at the burning machine as they passed it, thoughts storming in his head on how he was going to get to the hospital now.

' _The Turians are definitely going to notice something like a tank exploding, much more so when their commanders notice the tank is no longer transmitting'_ Solack mused. ' _They will without a doubt send troops to investigate its destruction, as well as search the area for its destroyer (us).'_

Solack felt a cold shiver travel down his spine once again, and could tell that many more would follow, as he and Ferinth stepped out of the building onto the street through a hole in the wall. Standing in the street waiting for them were the other Hunters and the Lt.'s Ultraraptor. The Lieutenant, recognizable from the dull gold stripe down his helmet, waved them to join the squad. Solack noticed that Dunel was there, though he had bandaging around his left shoulder.

' _Must have taken a hit there from either the tank or some rubble, well at least he us still alive'_ Solack smiled slightly, somewhat glad that soldier is alive. Among the Hunters here so far, he had treated Solack the least arrogantly, other than the Lieutenant who just has the silent dislike of civilians. The smile soon vanished ' _After all, I need someone to keep the aliens from shooting me so I can get to the Hospital. Ensign Vella on the other hand...'_

Sadly, Vella seemed to have made it out perfectly fine, her bulkier Demolition suit undamaged. Solack mentally snarled at the Saurian, when something clicked in his head. Solack glanced back at the Ensign, his eyes taking in each detail about her suit, looking for something in particular. When she turned to look towards one of the other hunters, Solack spotted the object he dreaded to find, and forced his jaw shut with discreet biotics to keep himself from hissing.

Near the small of her back, were two M20 Ventilator Anti-Tank mines. On her right side, there was an open hard point to where a Ventilator is attached to a standard S.A. Demolition suit. Furthermore, destroying any doubt of who laid the Mine, no one else had a single Ventilator or a special hard point to attach them to their suit.

Words, neither spoken, written, or thought could describe the frustration that blew through his mine. The only evidence of this frustration was Solack's right eye began to start twitching. As the frustration dissipated, dark thoughts of gruesome acts tempted him, though Solack ultimately ignored

Solack kept his face civil and bland, showing no more, due to Ensign Vella having been suspicious of him this whole time. Dunel glanced over to Solack, looking him up and down, giving him a nod before looking back to the Corvor. After some unheard words between them, Dunel moved to join the other Hunters, while the Lieutenant walked over to Solack.

"Alright Doctor, where going to have pick up the pace here. Destroying that tank may have bought us our immediate future, though the I'm not to certain how well we'll do when their buddies come looking for payback" Solack quietly nodded, confirming his own suspicions and fears as true. "Dunel took some shrapnel to his shoulder, though he can still fight. The real question is, can you still keep up?" To this question, Solack nodded once more, not paying to much attention to him anymore. This, didn't seem to slide with the Lieutenant.

"I need to hear you say it Doc," The Lieutenant barked, grabbing Solack by the arm and jerking him so that he was directly facing Corvor. The Saurian Doctor bit back a snarl at being manhandled, and look at Corvor's faceplate.

"I can keep up with you" Solack stated confidently. Corvor seemed to have been appeased by this, because a few moments later he released Solack. The Lieutenant turned back towards the other Hunters, obviously relaying orders. He then turned back to Solack.

"Our destination is the police station about two miles from here, let's go," Corvor turned without saying anything else as the Hunters gathered around them. He walked to the front of their ragtag formation and gave sharp layered whistle that echoed throughout the street before looking at his subordinates. Moments later, similarly layered cries answered the Lieutenant from across the city, far more than the number of Ultraraptors that the Hunters had with them. A confused Solack watched as this happen, and once again, like so many other times today, realization struck him.

' _That was an Ultraraptor distress call!'_ Solack thought, surprised that Hunter could mimic the vocal structure of the beasts so well ' _But why would he do that know, and in enemy territory no less?_ '

His musing were cut short as The Lieutenant took off at a jogging pace, his Ultraraptor and fellow Hunters moving instantly with him. Solack, not wanting to be left behind, joined them moments later.

Once again Solack found himself alongside the insufferable Ensign Vela, and as he has come increasingly familiar with she spoke up, though the words the words surprised him.

"Well then Doc, got a hand it to you, you know how to handle yourself," Vela spoke softly, keeping her voice down as she spoke to the Saurian Geneticist. Shocked by the apologetic words Solack stumbled but quickly caught himself, easily showing how surprised he was at them. He looked at the Hunter, eyes large yet skeptical as his brain began processing her words more. /

"Your not that bad of a man, Solack, and it would seem I have been giving you some unnecessary crap, so for what its worth, I'm sorry" Solack jogged along side the woman, his thoughts having taken a major pause as yet another sudden change in Vela personality hits him.

"Well I -" Solack before he was cut off by the Ensign.

"It still doesn't mean I trust completely, though you have earned my respect," Solack's eye twitched as the anger welled back up inside of him. He dismissed it though, and continued on running with the Hunters towards the Police Station, and eventually the Hospital to meet Mr. H and Mr. L. A ghost of a smile crept up his lips at the thought of finally leaving this place, and even the fact that Vela seems to have finally taken her sight off him.

However, unbeknownst Solack didn't know was that his struggles in this wasteland were approaching their peak, and would shape the destiny off three people and a whole galaxy for decades to come.


End file.
